It's almost win or bust for Stoke as they entertain Everton this weekend and here we have got a sneak (and somewhat encouraging) insight into events at Everton under their `popular' manager with Dave Downie of The Blue Room podcast

1 What on earth has happened to Everton away from home Dave after just one win in 23 games?

DAVE: It’s been a dreadful 15 months on the road for Everton and there are a number of reasons why. What turned into an increasingly worrying issue under Ronald Koeman has now become a pandemic under Sam Allardyce. You’d surely think several of those 23 may have been hard luck stories, but the sobering truth is I can’t remember Everton dropping points away from home where we’ve deserved anything better. The mentality outside of Goodison is quite embarrassing. I recently made the trip to Wembley to see us whimper to a 4-0 defeat to Spurs without having a shot on target - Allardyce’s response following the game was to say the team needed to be more boring and not as adventurous. The team lacks an identity and purpose away from home and it’s perpetuated by a lack of leadership even from senior players. When we concede a goal things tend to fall around like a deck of cards and it’s typically followed by an onslaught from the opposition. For all the trouble Arsenal have had this season, they’ve still managed to put 10 goals past Jordan Pickford - it’s definitely fair to say our away problems are deep rooted and I’m just thankful our home form has been so good in order to keep our heads above water.

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2 So can we expect them to be a soft touch of sorts for Stoke at the bet365 this weekend?

DAVE: It’s hard to argue against that given how this team falls like a house of cards. Any time we pick up a crucial home win such as the latest against Brighton, it should reinvigorate both players and fans and in turn spark some sort of confidence in away matches. But this season a capitulation feels inevitable as soon as we set foot outside Merseyside and admittedly it feels like it’d be Stoke’s own flaws that gives us an opportunity of changing that. Allardyce’s tactics and in-game management have been quite ridiculous at times; he loves to to try and limit the damage during games should we fall behind and there’s an overwhelming feeling of negativity from fans that he would happily settle for a point wherever he goes.

Sam Allardyce... not the most popular man on Merseyside (Image: Getty)

3 Where does Big Sam stand on the barometer of popular among Evertonians?

DAVE: Allardyce is emphatically the least popular manager we’ve ever had. We’ve had worse seasons, poorer players and even poorer managers (google Mike Walker). But everything from what he says in press conferences, to the teams he selects, particularly away from home, means there’s an unbridgeable disconnect between himself and Everton fans.

4 Do you see him gone in the summer and, if so, who do you see coming in ?

DAVE: Everton’s problems will turn a great deal worse if he’s still in a job after our final-day trip to West Ham - don’t expect any favours from us in your quest for survival there, by the way. The popular choice that seems to have gathered real momentum in recent months has been Shaktar’s Paulo Fonseca. He was reportedly approached by the club following Ronald Koeman’s sacking and seems to have the charisma and more importantly, identity, that Everton have so desperately lacked. Having said that, given the club’s rigorous pursuit of Marco Silva earlier this season, I’d be surprised if they hadn’t been in contact with him since he was sacked by Watford. Whoever the board chooses, I’d be worried if they hadn’t put plans in place for a new manager to get to work almost the second the final whistle is blown on this appalling season.

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DAVE: The only one that sticks out is Jordan Pickford. A measure of the lack of contenders for this accolade can be seen in that he’s the only one from more than £200 million worth of signings that you could say has been thoroughly worth the money we paid. He’s been the difference between Everton just about maintaining a safe mid-table position and being in very serious trouble in the Premier League. Stoke fans will recall his fantastic last minute save that prevented a Xherdan Shaqiri equaliser on the opening day of the season - it’s taken efforts like that to keep us away from our own relegation scrap.

Jordan Pickford... tremendous form in debut season for Everton (Image: Getty)

6 And which one has been your biggest disappointment?

DAVE: Again a sign of the times is that this question is more difficult to answer than the player of the year one. Most of the new signings have massively unimpressed to varying degrees, but I would have to say Sandro Ramirez, for whom we beat the likes of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid for his signature. He came with a fantastic pedigree and a better than one goal in two games in La Liga for Malaga last season. Whilst I don’t think he’s been given a fair chance given the other problems this season, there was a great excitement at him coming to the club. To see him loaned to Sevilla and probably never play for Everton again is disappointing. I must add an honourable mention to Michael Keane, though, as at times a £30 million donation to charity would have made better business sense. However, he’s still young and can improve whereas Sandro, it appears, has been completely written off.

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7 Will Gylfi Sigurdsson be a big miss and who do you see replacing him?

DAVE: Gylfi will be sorely missed as he was finally getting into his stride following a sluggish start to life at Everton. I think the versatility of Wayne Rooney probably puts him in pole position in that number 10 role, but I’d love to see Davy Klaassen, another thus-far big money flop, given a chance to justify his hefty fee. He made his first appearance from the bench against Brighton, so hopefully there’s more to come from the former Ajax captain.

Gylfi Sigurdsson... rediscovering his best form when injury struck (Image: Getty)

8 Let's have your prediction for the big game then Dave.

DAVE: Given my audience I can be quite honest without fear of retaliation, but I think given Stoke’s plight this game is as must-win as it gets, whereas we are all but secured safety by hitting 37 points last week. Therefore, I think Stoke will win a hard-fought encounter and our away-day nightmare will continue. As I said earlier, I think it would be Stoke’s form that gives us any confidence rather than our own. Stoke to win by the odd goal, but I think a draw is also likely. It’ll be tight.

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DAVE: West Brom are gone and it’s been fascinating watching how the story develops at the bottom as there’s so many clubs in the mix for the final two spots. I think Southampton are in real danger and given what’s going on with West Ham, you’d be brave to think the chaos that engulfs them at the moment would not affect their results. I’m backing Stoke City to get out of trouble by the skin of their teeth. Given Crystal Palace’s run-in, I think they’ll go along with one of West Ham or Southampton.